


Primal Matters

by Lumisong



Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: AU - Primal stuff, F/M, belial/djeeta(past tense)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-09
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-01-26 02:03:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 19,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21366370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumisong/pseuds/Lumisong
Summary: Djeeta wakes up in the void after Lucilius and Belial kidnap her, the two have plans for her as the Singularity, plans that will change her forever.Meanwhile back on the Grandcypher Lyria and Gran are struggling without their captain as the crew disperses to hunt for Djeeta, while Sandalphon and Lucio can't shake the feeling something awful is coming for them.
Relationships: Djeeta/Sandalphon (Granblue Fantasy)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 144





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written a fic since I was 13 and now i'm in my 20s so yeehaw.

After what had felt like days the usual silence was harshly broken by the sound of heels, rapidly approaching the small locked room Djeeta had been calling home. She had lost count of how long it has been since she last heard that distinct clicking. Her breath quickened, knowing who was approaching made fear creep up into her heart.

The door creaks open and he enters the room, a man overflowing with an air that made it obvious that he thought he was far above you, Lucilius. His emotionless expression never changing as he looked down at the girl huddled by the small bed in the corner.

“You’re coming with me today.” His tone matched his expression. “We have all the time in the void but I don’t like to wait.”

It took a few seconds for his words to process, _she was leaving the room? Did this mean he was bored of keeping her here? Or was there something else? _

Two clicks, Lucilius wasn’t lying when he said he didn’t like to wait, silence, two more clicks, his black heels making a noise that Djeeta would call satisfying if she wasn’t his prisoner.

“Are you brain dead? I said get up. Now, Singularity.”

There was no mistaking the frustration in his tone this time, she stumbled a little while standing, looking for her shoes was probably another waste of time in his eyes so there was no point in bothering. 

He looked her up and down once, not with any interest, more like how you look at an insect that’s bothering you. Without saying anything he turns and walks off, Djeeta had no idea if she should be happy about leaving that tiny dark room or afraid of the possibilities that might be waiting for her deeper in this hellhole. 

“I expect you to behave and not cause any issues, if you have any thoughts about acting up I have no qualms with skewering you.” Even when threatening his tone didn’t change. “Singularity, not responding to your superior is considered rude.” 

A small squeak escaped her throat as she responded. “Yes.” 

Lucilius nodded at getting his desired answer, she had been here too long to still be giving him cheek, not that she had any clue how long the confinement had been, the void doesn’t exactly have a day and night cycle and this building only exists due to Lucilius believing it should. 

Entering another part of the facility after walking for about ten minutes, Djeeta could start to guess where they were heading, her feet started dragging a bit as panic crept up her spine, but she couldn’t fall behind, his earlier threat was very fresh in her mind. 

“Well well, look at this, you got her out of the room with no issues, seems like I was wrong.” A playful voice comes from ahead of them, leading to a sigh from her escort. 

Leaning out from a side room was someone Djeeta was very familiar with, Belial, the fallen angel is the main reason she’s trapped here. 

Ignoring her completely his eyes flicked to Lucilius, “Everything here is prepped and ready for you, let me know if I can help any other way Cilius.” 

Frowning at the nickname but not saying anything Lucilius leads Djeeta into the room, pushing Belial inside with them. 

This new space immediately set off warning bells in Djeeta’s head, this was an experiment room, that was a table, there are straps on that table and instruments next to it and _oh god what is in that box?_ She could sense something familiar coming from it but couldn’t pin it down.

“Panicking now isn’t constructive, please take your clothes off and lay face down on the table.” Lucilius was looking over the items Belial had put together and nodded slightly, before looking back at Djeeta. “Do I need to repeat myself?”

When she again didn’t act quick enough for his liking Lucilius just clicked his heel and gestured at Belial, taking the hint he walked up to her and without a word reached down and pulled her dress over her head, taking her bra as well he pushed her towards the table with a small laugh.

“I don’t think you want me helping you onto that Singularity, I’m not in the habit of being gentle.” his tone was mocking, she could tell he was holding back more laughter.

Not wanting to be embarrassed more than necessary Djeeta climbed onto the table, _it’s cold_ she thought to herself, there was no point in bothering to cover her chest, Lucilius wasn’t the type to care and Belial had already seen everything.

After laying face down, Belial roughly forced her hands above head and strapped them down before moving down and doing the same to the legs.

The fear that had briefly dissolved came back at full force, breathing heavily onto the table she watched the metal fog up as her breath came into contact with it, this went on for a few minutes with the only other noise in the room being Lucilius setting up for the next steps.

Djeeta tried to distract herself, thinking about her friends back on the Grandcypher, hoping they were okay without her, hoping Lyria was holding up okay, praying that they hadn’t given up on their journey, they could do it without her, if death was all that awaited her then Djeeta wanted it to at least be painless but with an Astral as cold as ice leading her life there was no doubt pain was coming.

“Belial move the box closer, why you put it so far away I’ll never guess, useless.”

“Yes yes my lord.” The sarcasm in his tone was impossible to miss but there was affection mixed in there as well.

A muffled thud, a huff of air and another thud louder this time as the box was dropped beside the table.

_A kick in the stomach then_ Djeeta thought as she tried to readjust herself on the table, being tied up made this endeavor difficult but her shoulders were starting to stiffen and it wasn’t pleasant.

A sudden hand on her back almost made her scream but she managed to stop at a whimper. After the hand came something almost sharp but also.. wet?  
After a minute of the hand being placed on her back then replaced by what Djeeta guessed was a pen, Belial leaned over to eye level and smiled.

“I have to thank you for being so easy to fool Singularity, otherwise getting you this far might have been more difficult.” The fake cheer in his tone made her feel ill.

“Enough chatter.” Another kick sent Belial into the wall, he didn’t stay down for long, bouncing up as if it didn’t happen. Lucilius sighed. “I don’t have anything to lessen the pain, even if I did I wouldn’t waste it on you, but since I want you to limit the screaming bite on this.”

“Hey did you steal that from me?” Belial sounded almost offended as he watched Lucilius shove one of his belts into her mouth.

Ignoring him Lucilius looked down at Djeeta and nodded, his preparation was finally complete.

Djeeta didn’t know what to expect but the searing pain of a scalpel cutting open her back quickly one after another was not up there. Try as hard as she might, there was no holding back the screams, she couldn’t even recognize it coming from herself at first until Belial forced the belt harder into her mouth, muffling the noise.

The cuts continued for what felt like hours until Djeeta thought she was going to pass out, biting down on the belt with all her strength was all she could do to stay conscious.

With a little noise of satisfaction Lucilius put the scalpel down and looked at the girl on the table, six holes, three on each side ran down parallel to her spine, she was still awake which was almost a surprise to him, but having fought before he knew just how stubborn she could be, not that it mattered to him.

“Find the six cleanest ones and give them here, quickly.”

Not needing to be addressed by name, Belial moved from where he had been watching and did as he was told. After placing the six orbs next to Lucilius he backed away.

Inspecting the orbs he obviously wasn’t completely satisfied but it was difficult enough to recover these and he had limited options.

“Now I will begin the insertion, keep an eye on everything so it doesn’t go berserk or die.”

The small noise of affirmation was all Lucilius needed to begin, he picked up the first orb, running his hand around the first hole, diamond shaped, near the shoulder, he pushed it in with a small amount of force and watched as the orb almost melted into the flesh, covering it up with a flap of skin he had left intact he moved onto the other five.

This process was relatively quick, his subject had given up screaming long ago but the shivering that sprung up with the first cut hadn’t stopped, not that he was worried, if this failed he would just get another to take her place, but considering she was the Singularity and had even bested him in combat he wasn’t sure how easy it would be to find better.

Taking a step back he continued observing, there was definitely a reaction but inserting six primal cores into a human was something new and there was no previous experience to go on with what to expect.

“Do you think feeding the flesh of those will be enough to have prepared her body for this?”

The question wasn’t sudden, but Lucilius didn’t have an answer, and he hated not having an answer.

“If it wasn’t then we will just have to try again, hopefully we can recover the cores if it fails.” He almost sounded bored, this was taking longer than he thought.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Djeeta has some guests in her body that need to be dealt with.

On the table Djeeta was silent, the only proof that she was still alive was the uncontrollable vibrations coursing through her body. It wasn’t obvious when she had passed out but within her mind her own voice was now joined by six new ones, crying and wailing at their fate. Feeling powerless to control them Djeeta tried to speak to the chorus but their pain was just too much, coupled with the damage inflicted on her physical self this new mental barrage was pushing her close to the edge.

Before she could fully give up, one of the voices seemed to realize they were no longer alone and spoke. 

“Where are we? Who are you? Human? Why are we with a human? Wait, not fully human? What are you?” The growing confusion of the speaking voice seemed to have caught the attention of the rest and Djeeta could swear she felt them staring into her soul.

“What do you mean, I’m fully human.” 

A pause, they didn't seem to believe her. 

“No, you have the flesh of ones similar to us within you, you're closer to a beast than a human.” 

The confusion now spread to Djeeta as she tried to guess what they meant, within her? Today was the first time in the lab. Had she been fed something weird? She was fed nothing but meat scraps since she being kidnapped but had assumed the meat had come from an animal, the thought that it could be something else made her feel sick to her stomach. 

A new voice joined in. “We were all inside this vast blackness and now we’re here, I feel so weak, this isn’t right.” It sounded on the verge of panic. 

The other voices agreed, “Even in this state, we should be able to overpower one human mind.” 

They spoke between themselves, Djeeta felt like a stranger in her own mind, but she was still trying to piece together what was happening, she had counted six holes cut into her, and now six new voices in her head, what was placed into her looked round from what she could make out, but it melted into her once placed into the holes, it had felt like hellfire being poured directly into her soul.

“Excuse me?” She asked hesitantly, “are you all Primal Beasts?” She hoped it wasn’t true but she had to know. 

The chattering stopped as all attention was on her again. 

“Yes.”

It was one word but it answered so many questions, and now she knew what she had to do, as much as it saddened her to do so. 

Throughout her journey so far Djeeta had fought and suppressed many Primals and while she wasn’t one hundred percent sure she could, she had to try and suppress these as well, alone this time, but she had the advantage, within her own mind she should be queen.

“I’m sorry, I can’t give myself to you all, I have people waiting, a crew that needs me and I need them.” It pained her to say it, but she had to communicate her intentions clearly. “I’m going to fight you all, I’m going to win, and when I win you’re all going to get out of my body.” 

The anger Djeeta felt coming from the group was not a surprise, she was telling them to give up their chance at freedom for what seemed like the second time. There was no choice, she had to win. 

Imagining a place familiar to her, the forest where they had met Lyria, the forest where she died and had tied the fate of Lyria to her forever, it was a painful yet happy place, it marked the start of her journey into the skies after all, oh how she missed her crew. 

Rubbing her feet on the ground she smiled at how real it felt, the smile quickly faded as she saw six shadow laced figures watching from the trees, the intent to kill was obvious, but Djeeta knew going into this that it wasn’t going to be easy.

“One versus six isn’t very fair but I guess there’s no choice.” She sighed as she drew her sword.

“Whoever kills takes the body.” The second voice spoke, the cocky nature of their speech made it obvious that they thought it was an easy win. 

Five of the Primals jumped down with the first voice watching from above, circling her they took swipes, much smaller than they were used to being it was difficult to get into a rhythm for fighting. 

Sighing and lunging at the beast in front of her, Djeeta swiftly removed its head from its shoulders, before she could turn another jumped on her, attacking her neck and head, using her arm to shield her neck she turned and slammed her back into a tree. The stunned beast had no time to react before it also lost its head. 

The fight continued like this, Djeeta was shocked at how weak these Primals felt, there was also some confusion since they had no solid form, instead being tainted by shadows and hard to make out, almost like a mirage. But these Primals weren't used to fighting in a team and came at her one by one, a mistake since it lead to quick deaths.

After all five were dispatched the sixth jumped down, it didn’t take a fighting stance it just looked at Djeeta. 

“You’re very strong for a human, outnumbered you managed this,” He gestured at the carnage around them. “You said you’d get rid of us but that isn’t possible, unless.” It walked to one of the corpses of its fellow Primals and knelt next to it. “You have to take our souls and make them your own or we’ll keep coming back, our cores have melded with you so there’s no choice here.” 

Not moving from where she stood, Djeeta relaxed her stance._ He doesn’t seem to be lying, but how can taking Primal souls make all this better? Will I still be human?_ Her thoughts weren’t getting any less confusing and she hadn’t noticed the last beast had moved to be in front of her. 

“Please just do it, after being forced into that Black Beast none of us will stay sane for long, it’s a surprise we were all able to speak to you, within that creature all that we heard was screaming, everyone in pain together, insanity.” The shadowy figure seemed to waver, as if shivering. “I’m too weak to fight, maybe I don’t want to fight anymore, we were all powerful in life but here we can’t win.” It sounded tired.

There was no point stalling this out longer, nodding her agreement Djeeta took their sword and delivered the final Primal to rest. 

“Thank you, Singularity.” The last words, almost like a whisper.

_I’m sorry I couldn’t help more she sighed_, watching its body fall to the ground. She knew the Black Beast they referred to, it was a horrible monster made by forcing Primal cores and darkness together, they had killed it with Sandalphon right after Lucifer had passed, a dull pain rippled through Djeeta’s chest,_ Sandalphon.. I hope you’re doing alright, I pray you haven’t abandoned the crew._

Shaking her head to scatter the thoughts she looked around at the shadowy corpses, after defeating the Black Beast someone, probably Belial, must have saved some cores, now the task of absorbing the souls from them was all that remained. 

“I hope I’m still me after all this.” A forced laugh escaped her as she wiped tears from her eyes.

Djeeta looked down at the first Primal in front of her and with a tired sigh, set to the task of absorbing them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was meant to upload this later but I had a tooth ripped out yesterday so I had a pain filled night that left me free to edit, hopefully I didn't miss any glaring mistakes haha


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Djeeta wakes up, but is she still the same?

In the lab Lucilius had long grown bored and walked off, giving Belial the task of keeping an eye on the body. He knew something was happening, over time the girl on the table no longer felt Human, the cores had been worked on by Cilius to resemble how his own and the other Primarchs worked, though the main inspiration was likely the most perfect creation, Lucifer. He could imagine the souls inside those cores probably weren’t too happy about their situation. 

“I should probably call him, all six signals have disappeared.” He stood up, walking to the door. 

Before he could leave the room however, he felt a pair of eyes on him, turning to see the Singularity known as Djeeta watching him. In the short time he had his back turned, six beautiful wings had sprouted from her flesh. Light blue along the main body of feathers leading into a faded purple at the tips, they looked perfect. The awe didn’t last long, he needed to get Lucilius in here.

“You’re awake? Good, give me a moment, Cilius will want to know.”

Leaning into the hall he called out, and in response heard the clicking of heels approach, it was an alluring sound, his thoughts mindlessly drifted to those heels stepping on him. He shook his head. _ No, not the time. _ Even with his wings hidden Lucilius was a stunning sight, the black matter that covered most of his body was surprisingly hard to the touch, but still warm. Belial wasn’t bothered by the change in his creators appearance, since the soul within is still the same, not tainted by the second-hand body. 

This new Primal hadn’t taken her eyes off Belial, there was no emotion in its once blue eyes, now a pale amber colour. The blankness of her expression was unnerving, when she blinked it was painfully slow, but even while blinking it felt like there was no escape from that stare. 

Rushing into the room Lucilius almost smiled at the girl on the table, it had worked, the body was perfect. Taking a breath to calm himself he looked reluctantly at his assistant. 

“Has it said anything?”

“No, she has only stared at me since she woke.” 

Lucilius felt a small ball of excitement growing, pushing it down he began his examination. “It has completely transitioned into a Primal while retaining a humanoid form, no change in skin colour or feel, though the eye colour has changed, the wings seem to be healthy.”

Running a gloved hand along one of the newly sprouted wings, Lucilius peered at the base of them, all six grew from where the cores had been placed, none of the cores selected had belonged to winged beasts but being an Astral made it easy to change that. He was curious if the residual darkness in the cores would taint the body, but it showed no outward signs of that being so.

“How are you feeling?”

No response. 

“Has it lost the ability to talk in the transition?” The excitement had calmed down and a sense of unease filled him, why wouldn’t it speak?

Djeeta’s only response was that slow blinking, this slightly angered Lucilius, it obviously understood him, was it doing this on purpose? 

“Undo the shackles maybe and see if she can move on her own.” Belial noticed the annoyance rolling off his creator, so he tried hopelessly to distract from it. 

Lucilius nodded but made no move to do it himself, instead he was locked in a staring contest with the girl on the table. Belial sighed and moved forward to do it himself. 

Once free the girl shuffled her new unfamiliar wings and tried to sit up, but the hours of being tied down plus the transition from Human to Primal had made her weak, another sigh escaped Belial as he helped her up, once she was sitting Lucilius pushed him away forcefully. 

“Arm and leg movement is fine.” He moved her appendages in a range of motions. “It is completely healthy, none of the previous core souls exist within it, but maybe the absorbing process changed how the mind functions?” 

He opened her mouth to check inside, nothing wrong, overall this one was completely healthy so it should be able to communicate. 

“Can’t force her to speak.” Belial spoke softly to the continually agitated Lucilius. 

_ Yes I can _, he thought, and this time he did smile, a smile that sent a shiver down Belial's spine, summoning a sword Lucilius drove it into her thigh, right through her leg and the table beneath, she stiffened briefly and finally broke eye contact to look at the weapon, running her hand around the new wound she let out an eerie humming noise. 

Belial watched on, there was no use trying to stop this, and even if he tried it would just turn into him getting stabbed, he wasn’t currently in the mood for knife or blood play. Resigned he leaned against the wall and waited for it to be over.

“If it hurts say something, you sorry excuse for a life.” Lucilius hissed, driving a second sword into the other thigh, harder this time.

Still humming she ran her hands around the other sword, with fingers drifting lazily up the blade before finding the handle, pulling it out and tossing it aside then looking at the wound left behind. The blood pouring from her leg didn’t seem to be a bother, she even curiously stuck a finger into the wound and giggled. 

“Did its mind break? What in the skies is wrong with this thing?” Watching on, the sense of unease just kept growing.

_ It should have been perfect, the best host, the best cores we could find, fixed by me, why, why, why, why, why is this happening?! It’s not logical! _ His thoughts were racing as he continued watching, her wounds were healing quickly and soon all that was left were superficial cuts. Lucilius couldn’t handle this thing right now, he needed space to think.

“Take it back to the cell and make sure it is securely contained, if it escapes I will never let you know peace again Belial.” 

Belial nodded, he knew not to argue or joke around at this point, picking up the girl he slung her over his shoulder and walked out of the lab. Her new wings scraped the door frames and tickled his head as they walked through the halls. 

Eventually she began kicking so he let her down gently, the newly unbound Djeeta happily stretched her legs and started walking, bouncing with every step. _ She doesn’t know that she’s naked does she? Or does this new version of the Singularity not care? The old version was embarrassed the first time I saw this much. _ Thinking of the past while walking Belial absentmindedly made his way towards the cell. 

After a while he was pulled out of those wandering thoughts by a set of wings bumping into him. _ Still not used to them yet. _Chuckling quietly to himself, he watched as she haphazardly stretched and flapped the new wings, a few feathers were coming loose, fluttering to the floor from the sudden activity. After what felt like hours with Djeeta stopping at every little noise or new sight, they finally arrived at the cell, he lead her in watching in surprise as she took up her usual spot on the dingy bed. Taking a mental note to inform Lucilius when he got back, Belial made sure Djeeta was settled before exiting the tiny room.

After locking the door, not that he thought it would matter, she had seemed content just sitting on the bed humming those unknown, eerie songs. Double checking everything he peeked through the window curiously at this new creature, she was still on the bed, humming. With nothing more to see Belial drifted slowly back towards the main building. _ Gods, I hope Cilius hasn’t destroyed another lab, rebuilding them is always left to me. _

Memories of the last fight he’d had with Djeeta filled his mind as he walked, she was strong, much more so than any human has a right to be. It’s almost scary, Primals bowed to her and even followed on their journey. Not to mention the other Primarchs instructing her on making weapons infused with their very essence, weapons that should kill anyone who dares obtain all of them, yet she barely showed any issues with straddling their full might. 

Though in the end those weapons did give him the idea of making his own, which let him invade her mind and sleep. Humans aren’t good at lying in their dreams, with love and passion being easy enough to confuse. A girl in her early 20s who had no experience with the heat of lust stood no chance, dreams are where those inner thoughts run wild and they’re easy to manipulate, Belial isn’t called cunning and a trickster for nothing.

“I wonder if you still remember the fun we had, huh? Singularity?” Laughing to himself as he walked, his thoughts drifted to the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've played 80 hours of Pokemon and my GW has suffered, i'm a one man crew anyway and i'm dead, save me.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We see how the Grandcypher is doing (hint: not great!)

On the Grandcypher the pacing of boots hitting wood was the only sound echoing through the early morning. Gran circled the deck with Lyria watching, she had been cradling the crying Vryn for hours, with nothing to do but offer comfort to the small dragon. Djeeta had been missing for weeks and while Lyria could still sense her this offered no comfort as the Captain showed no signs of returning, the most worrying part was the weird feeling she got from the Captain’s room, it felt heavy and empty yet also filled with her presence, like she could reappear at any second. 

“Lyria, what do we do if she doesn’t come back? This whole crew relies on her.” He paused. “Especially me.” Gran was close to tears, but he prided himself on not crying in front of Lyria, she didn’t need anyone else to worry about at this time. 

Lyria didn't speak, she couldn’t, what words could comfort him? All three of their souls were linked, they both knew Djeeta was alive, but she wasn’t with them. Gran had never spent so much time away from his childhood friend and adopted sister, his brain did not have the capacity to process the loss, the restless pacing continued until a voice came from the other end of the deck.

“Staying here won’t do anything, you should know this Girl in Blue and Sub-Singularity.” The owner of the voice looked between them. “If she is really alive we should be looking for her.” His voice dripped with impatience and fury.

“Sandalphon.” Lyria finally looked away from Gran to lock eyes with the angel walking towards them.

“You say you can feel her still, that she is alive and breathing! Yet we do nothing! We wait and wait yet she shows no signs of coming back! Why aren’t we tearing these cursed skies apart to find her?!” Sandalphon didn’t bother hiding it, he was furious, he didn’t understand the two mortals in front of him, the ones who claimed to love and care for Djeeta more than anyone else, more than himself even. 

“We’ve tried.” The grief in Grans tone was obvious. “If we move too far from the ship, it hurts, it just burns and feels like my soul is being dragged back here. You are free to tear apart the skies if you please, but Djeeta wouldn’t want that and you know it.” His tone almost sounded mocking near the end.

Sandalphon snaps, he takes three long strides to close the gap between himself and Gran, raising his arm to deliver a blow on the waiting mortal he is stopped by another hand grabbing his own.

“Stop. Sandalphon loss has made you blind, do not take your hurt out on those who are not to blame.” Lucio, the mysterious angel held him tightly, refusing to let go. 

Looking around Sandalphon noticed that the deck now had many more people around all watching him carefully, most mortals wouldn’t dare to stop the Supreme Primarch but that doesn’t mean they thought his actions were right. He sighed, pulling his hand free he looked at the young man before him. Lucio was right, they weren’t to blame, he was. 

“Alright, no fighting on deck, we’re all worried but fighting won’t bring the Captain back.” An Erune, Eustace stepped forward, his hand rested on his holstered gun, getting the hint Lucio pulled him back. 

Gritting his teeth Sandalphon fled the deck with all the judging eyes. No one blamed him, after all only himself, Gran, Lyria, Vryn and a few others knew about the note left on the day of Djeeta’s disappearance. It was a small note with three words,  _ Thank you - Belial _ . It was almost enough to drive him to the brink of insanity, but if he reverted to his old ways he knew there would be no one to forgive it.

Back on deck Lucio comforted the shivering Gran, the mortal was very close to breaking and everyone knew this. They had tried to find Djeeta but as soon as they got too far from the ship Gran would collapse until brought back onboard. This severely limited their involvement in the search, even with others picking up the slack it didn’t help the two who were essentially trapped on the ship. 

The short peace was broken by a sudden crackling in the air between Gran and Lyria, a pause, silence, in sync their faces twisted in agony as they screamed and collapsed, writhing on the ground with inhuman noises spilling from them. Vryn tried to help but all he could do it watch as everyone surrounded the two, panic filled the air as more people came to see what the commotion was about. The Eternals that were around reacted first, Siete, Six, Quatre and Tien all guarding the two, Tweyen, Okto and Threo all pushing the others back for space. They needed to get the two off the deck but it was impossible to pick them up as they were howling in pain. 

Sending bystanders off to find help, they returned shortly with the dream twins Morphe and Phoebe in tow, offering up their assistance, the Eternals let them through and watched as they cast their magic. After multiple tries the screaming eventually dulled to groans. Lyria and Gran had fallen into a deep, unnatural sleep. 

As the ship calmed down the two were moved into the same room to be monitored by the medical experts with the dream twins to keep their sleep in check. The Primals onboard were shaken, Lyria going out of control was not something they could have anticipated and it weighed on them, her pain was shared through all the links she had, while they could mostly ignore it now that she was asleep, it had been hard to stay composed as pain ripped through them. 

Lucio and Sandalphon knew this didn’t bode well, ignoring what had happened on deck, the two had ran towards Djeeta’s room, the oddness filling the room had grown more intense with the commotion, though nothing physical was found, the feeling they got from the room all but confirmed that Djeeta had been taken from here and there was still some link open, how and why they did not know. 

“We have to keep this to ourselves for now, getting any hopes up would be a bad idea.” Sandalphon spoke calmly but he was tense enough to feel like his body would snap in two. 

“I agree, with Gran and Lyria now unconscious we know something has most likely happened to our dear Captain, but I doubt even they could tell us exactly what has occurred.” Lucio rubbed the back of his neck, feeling slightly hopeless as he looked around. 

* * *

Djeeta had been quiet, too quiet for Lucilius’ liking after nonstop humming for days on end, every checkup had been the same, no talking or communication from the newly born Primal. The results worried him, but this silence worried him more.

“Belial, be helpful for once and see why it’s being so quiet.” He waved towards the door impatiently. 

“Yeah yeah I’m on it, no need to ride me so hard.” 

Ignoring the inappropriate comment, Lucilius kept examining the samples he’d taken earlier, nothing was out of line, the confusion just kept increasing. 

After what felt like too long Belial burst back into the room. “Cilius you need to come, now” 

“Can’t you just explain it with words, I know your speech works, unlike that useless thing.” He was irritated now, surely it couldn’t be that important. 

“It’s something you’ll have to see.”

At the insistent urging Lucilius finally stood up, promising in his head to stab Belial if this wasn’t worth the time that could be used working. Following the Primal to the cell he instantly felt something was different, taking a breath he opened the door, to his surprise the feeling was confirmed. 

In the center of the room was a Cradle, a small smile formed as he observed this. He circled it while taking notes, it was far bigger than most Cradles, the only ones that rivalled it being from Lucifer and Belial, a good sign. Within the Primal was sleeping, he could feel the warmth coming from the feathers, another good sign. 

“I wasn’t expecting this, but it is a very pleasant surprise. You’ve done well for once Belial.” In his good mood he didn’t notice that he’d complemented his assistant.

A small laugh bubbled up as all the signs pointed towards this Cradle being healthy. “Maybe this is what it needed, like a caterpillar to a butterfly.” Lucilius wasn’t speaking to anyone in particular but his excitement had firmly taken root.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I struggled writing this, which is why it's late, no idea why but i hope you enjoyed!  
The Eternals having two sets of names is annoying so I picked the ones I personally use.  
we'll see more main characters soon.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some disagreements are had, Lucilius is stabby and Belial doesn't know when to quit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for how slow this update was to come out, I started a new job and then promptly got sick!  
I hope if you watched gbf fest you enjoyed it! I certainly did a lot.

Lucilius had been studying the Cradle for days, slightly worried as it seemed the creature inside was struggling with the power surging from within. Belial checked on him frequently, forcing the workaholic Astral to take breaks, though these breaks generally turned into more work. 

“Cilius, I took you out of that lab to get you away from work, surely this task isn’t that important that you need to neglect little ol’ me?” Belial ran a hand over the desk, stopping in front of Lucilius, like an unspoken question it hovered there, waiting. “I’ll go soft if you don’t pay attention to me.” 

The playful tone of Belial's voice wasn’t lost on Lucilius, but he wasn't in the mood. Smacking the hand away he pushed the chair away from the desk, sighing as he looked at the notes messily thrown all over the small lab. 

“The tests I ran on the flesh samples prove that the body changed, the transition should have been clean.” Ignoring the puppy eyes his assistant was flashing at him Lucilius started picking up his notes. 

“But it isn’t clean, the Cradle is fluctuating and the Primal inside is struggling.” Belial sounded bored, but he knew his words stung. “Things not going to plan should be normal for you at this point, why is this so surprising for you?” 

Lucilius glared at Belial, _ how dare he speak to me like this. _He stood still for a moment, thinking, before slowly reaching out towards the other, his hand cracked as he roughly grabbed Belial’s face. Squeezing the jaw he pushed the smug Primal against the wall. Belial couldn't help but smile at his creator, this was a reaction he dreamed of, pure and emotional, Lucilius hated it, emotional reactions weren’t his thing, but ever since being banished to the void the facade had been cracking, slowly but surely. 

“Whatever could be wrong Lucilius?” Barely able to speak Belial spat the words out, making sure each syllable dripped with loving sarcasm. 

Pushing buttons was Belial’s speciality and he had waited so long to get such a genuine reaction from his creator. Years upon years of waiting was paying off, and it felt oh so good. 

Lucilius showed no signs of letting go, locked in a staring contest the two stayed frozen for many minutes. It was almost a game, who would break first? Neither of them wanted to be the first one to move, and Lucilius did not want to give Belail the satisfaction of winning. 

“You might see this as a punishment Cilius, but I see it as a prize.” Belial once again forced the words out, growing more confident by the minute. 

With a _ tsk _and a click of his heel Lucilius let go of his prey. With the pressure gone, Belial stumbled forward while rubbing his jaw. Even though he enjoyed pain, there was nothing fun about the stiffness that comes after. This freedom was short lived though as pain soon shot through his body, looking down he saw one of Lucilius’ swords sticking out from his abdomen. 

“Huh, that’s not the sword I wanted you to impale me with.” He gurgled, falling to his knees. 

Lucilius watched in amusement as the Primals expression changed. He had always been a hard one to control but the Astral was sure he could reign in the rebellious attitude that seemed to have developed over the time he was asleep. He knew Belial never fully followed any of his plans, always taking his own way and changing things as he saw fit, but Lucilius had all the time in the void to change this. 

“I have work to do, you can stay here and think about how you want to conduct yourself in the future, you useless dog.” Not waiting for a response, Lucilius abandons the bleeding Primal on the ground.

Belial let out a laugh, he knew he'd lost this round, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t win in the future. After all, Lucilius still had no clue how this current time period worked and if he wanted to make any more plans he would need the knowledge Belial had collected over the last few thousand years. 

Walking through the halls Lucilius was finally left alone with his thoughts, the sharp clicking of his steps acting like bullet points as he listed off what he wanted to do in regards to the unstable Cradle. 

Making his way into another lab-room he noticed instantly the fluctuations were only getting worse, the floor was covered in feathers and it felt like energy was rippling off the egg-like object. Frowning, he observed the room for a time, the pulses of power rolling off the Cradle were the only thing in a rhythm, similar to a heartbeat. There was a feeling of wrongness in the room, other than the insanity all around, something had changed.

As he approached the center of the lab-room to observe up close he finally noticed what was bothering him, runes of light were circling the object, this bothered Lucilius. He had seen these before, they were very similar to what summoned Lucifer's Paradise Lost, even more disturbing was between these runes were markings similar to the ones still covering Belial after his Avatar corruption. The only part of the taint that still remained on his useless assistant were these markings, the horns and his eye had been fixed by Lucilius himself, but the markings were etched into the Primal, and now here they are again surrounding his newest prize. 

“With my limited tools here I can only do so much to help that useless beast, but I have the perfect thing to help you.” He spoke to the Cradle like an absent parent, distant yet vaguely caring. “If you can absorb those six souls, I have no doubt that you can absorb this.” 

Lucilius reached within himself, deeper to the part where Lucifer's remaining power and his own had mixed, pulling out a sizable segment. He watched as it flowed around itself, tendrils of light danced around the blazing royal blue of his own energy. This was a risk, but if left alone the perfect specimen would perish. Lucilius was not going to lose again, Lucifers passing was already too much, with the replacement parading around as the Supreme Primarch it was like another wound on an already weak body, he had to do something about it. Punishment for the ones who trapped him within this place would be sweet, so his trump card must live.

Taking the final few steps needed to touch the Cradle, Lucilius placed his free hand against it. It was warm, the heartbeat-like rhythm was ongoing but that did not concern him now. Light tendrils unwrapped themselves from his own power, reaching towards the suffering egg, an emotionless laugh escaped him. 

“Even in death you still care for those near you.” There was no sadness in his voice, he had no time for mourning. 

Wanting to keep both segments of power together for the absorption process Lucilius had to act quickly. Using his free hand as support, he moved the other to force the mass of energy steadily into the Cradle, if he was fast it might go into shock but too slow might dilute it. 

After a few minutes the mass had been fully absorbed, taking a step back Lucilius noted already that less feathers were floating around and the constant pulsing had quieted. Taking this as good news he continued silently observing the object for any additional irrational changes. 

“Was that really the best idea?” Belial had slinked into the room sometime during the process, still bleeding, he crouched in the corner to watch.

“What I choose to do with my pets has nothing to do with you, remember your place, lowly mutt.” Lucilius sneered, not sparing even a look for the other. 

“Dogs tend to get love and affection from their Masters, I don’t even remember the last time you let me lick you like a dog would, you don’t even feed me.” He was grinning, even with the hole in his stomach. 

“If you dare lick me I will not leave even a single hair from your head in this world.” Lucilius sighed, dealing with Belial was always tiring.

Hearing laughter Lucilius glanced at the corner, Belial was smirking happily, bleeding all over the once pristine feathers around him. _ How fitting _. 

Attention was quickly drawn back to the Cradle, the heartbeat-like pulse had stopped, replaced with a sound Lucilius could not identify. It was somehow relaxing but also made him feel an emotion that was so rare he couldn't name it. 

“She’s lonely.” 

Whipping his head around at the odd tone of voice, Lucilius saw an even rarer sight than his brief emotional imbalance. 

** _Belial was crying._ **

No matter how much he wiped the tears they kept flowing, unfortunately for the Primal of Cunning his link to the sleeping girl meant her now amplified and clear emotions hit him harder and faster than his creator, but Belial could tell Lucilius was starting to feel it too.

“This sound, it’s from her dreams. A river from her home island, sitting under the trees while the wind blows gently. She’s showed me, I think that’s even where I took her innocence.” He tried to laugh but it came out choked, frustratingly overwhelmed by the unwelcome foreign emotions.

“You had intercourse with the human?” Lucilius wasn’t particularly interested, only asking on a whim, a distraction.

“Oh yeah, many times, how do you think I got her here so easily? It wasn’t a walk in the park to act the part of prince charming you know, I deserve at least a little praise.” The tears dripping from his face as he spoke did nothing to make him look better.

Lucilius turned away, now bored of the conversation. Belial snorted, leaning against the wall. His emotions were starting to return under his control, slowly the uncharacteristic crying slowed.

“It is now stable so we’re done here. I need to continue running tests on the Primal flesh we fed it compared to what I took from it after the surgery.” Lucilius strode out of the lab quickly, he knew staying longer would only lead to tears, the emotions filling the room were too concentrated.

Shrugging as he stood up, Belial stared at the Cradle, only slightly curious as to what the Primal inside was dreaming to cause her to feel so strongly that even Lucilius was forced to run away.

* * *

On a fallen log by a fast flowing river sat a girl.

Basking in the sunlight, the girl watched as the birds fluttered between the trees.

Though this scene was what one might call beautiful, the girl was in agony.

From her mouth feathers poured, with no regard for her wish to speak.

Every time a new feather fell, she lost more of herself.

Soon.

Soon.

Soon the girl would finally rest.

But before rest, a task.

Waiting for those who knew her most.

The girl sat,

On the log,

By the river, 

In this dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to follow my twitter @eruneears is it!  
This chapter is a little different to what I had planned but I like it and I hope you do too!  
I should have the next part finished within the week, if I finish it quickly it'll be posted asap.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finding an old friend isn't always what you wish for, sometimes it hurts more than you could ever dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays everyone! I'm updating this at 2am for me, so if i missed any mistakes I am sorry!

Under the shade of a familiar tree Gran awoke, looking around in a daze he tried to piece together how he arrived here. The area around him resembled his home island, Zinkenstill, but some details seemed wrong or even blurry almost like whoever, or whatever, crafted this place was basing it off old memories. Standing up he marveled at how real it all felt, he’d woken at the edge of the village and could even spot familiar faces going about their daily business. Hearing a rustling from behind, Gran turned towards the sound.

“Gran! You’re here too, thank the gods, I thought I was alone!” Running from out of the trees was Lyria, she’d been crying and couldn’t stop from throwing herself at him. 

“It’s okay, you’re not alone.” He cooed softly while petting her hair. “I don’t want to push you but do you know how we got here? Is it the work of a Primal beast?” Gran questioned her gently, her tears weren't slowing but they needed answers. 

Lyria froze, nodded, shook her head and then shrugged. 

“There’s something here but I can’t tell what it is, I felt something familiar for a moment, like how Sandalphon feels but.. muddier?” Lyrias face twisted in frustration and confusion. “It disappeared and now all I can sense is something different, like many Primals at once, it feels scared.” 

Thinking they should ask the village for answers, Gran started walking towards the first row of houses, but before he could take two steps he was stopped by Lyria pulling back on his arm.

“What’s wrong? There are people there, they might have answers.” Confused, Gran tried to pull himself free. 

Shaking her head furiously she pulled back harder. “No you can’t, they aren’t humans.” Crying while weakly pulling Gran towards the trees. “They’re the puppets of a Primal, please, please it doesn’t feel good to go there.” 

Glancing back at the village as he was dragged away, Gran noticed all movement had stopped, the figures he had thought were humans were all frozen in unnatural positions with their heads turned towards the two. Shivering, he turned away and followed Lyria. 

While stomping through the thick underbrush Gran could hear the normal noises that filled a forest but also something else, it was distant but it sounded close to sobbing.

“Can you hear that? It sounds like someone’s hurt!” Lyria tugged Gran harder towards the noise, almost tripping over roots as she went.

Unable to protest, Gran found himself pulled into a clearing, within the haphazard circle of trees that made up the area it was obvious a fight had taken place. All around them tufts of grass had been dug up by claw and sword alike. 

Lyria looked down and around, a confused expression crossing her face as she walked to the center of the area. 

“There were Primals here? I think? This feeling is uncomfortable.” She tilted her head. “Multiple souls all in one? I don’t know how to explain this Gran, I don’t like this, it feels wrong. I hope Djeeta is okay.” Lyria’s voice dropped as she mentioned Djeeta, her worry was impossible to hide.

“We should keep looking right? That sobbing hasn’t stopped, maybe that will lead us somewhere helpful.” Forcing his voice higher to sound positive, Gran was the one dragging Lyria this time. 

Continuing on in silence, the two traveled towards the crying, the noise grew louder and louder. As they got closer, the ground around them occasionally seemed to be littered with purple and blue feathers. Following a familiar fast flowing river Gran realised he was leading Lyria to a place he recognized, and with the sobbing seemingly coming from there his heart dropped, it was an old hiding spot that Djeeta used often, they also fished there when the weather was good. 

“Gran, you’re pulling too hard, it hurts.” Lyria spoke quietly, or maybe Gran was just breathing too heavily so she sounded quiet. He didn’t know, but he let go of the girl anyway. 

Bursting into the area, Gran looked around wildly, his eyes settled on the figure sitting by the river. She looked familiar but foreign at the same time. The oddest part to Gran though wasn’t the fact she was naked, but that the girl was surrounded by feathers, even as they blew away more took their place, _ where are they coming from? _ He didn’t dare ask the question out loud, but he’d get his answer shortly. 

Hearing the noise the girl turned her head, her face was streaked with tears, amber eyes filled with fear observing the two. Gran felt his heart shatter, this was obviously Djeeta, but why wasn’t she moving to them? Why did she look so fearful? 

Lyria shivered, mustered up her courage, took two steps forward and raised her voice. “Who are you? What have you done with our Captain Djeeta?”

The forcefulness in her voice surprised Gran, but he knew the confidence was fake, her hands were still shaking as she spoke. 

Tilting their head, the Djeeta lookalike tried to speak, as it opened its mouth an impossible amount of feathers flowed from between their lips. Quickly shutting its mouth, the creature let out a sob.

“It can’t speak? What in the skies is this? It looks almost exactly like Djeeta!” Gran felt his voice cracking as he half yelled at the creature. 

Opening its mouth once more, through the flurry of feathers it spoke, so quiet it was almost impossible to hear. 

“Who are you?” 

Tears fell from her eyes as she closed her mouth, it seemed everyone in the clearing was confused and hurt. 

Hesitantly opening her mouth, the girl spoke once again. “I am Djeeta, but I don’t know you two.” 

Those words hit Gran harder than any previous punch Djeeta had given him in all their years together. While this creature… girl was a mirror image of his childhood friend, there were still some differences, he needed answers. 

“Djeeta has darker eyes and blonder hair, how can you be her?!” He didn’t want to shout but his heart and head hurt too much. 

Lyria had been silent for a while, watching the figure by the river curiously. Taking a breath she walked up to the girl, crouching at eye level, like you would with an animal you wanted to tame.

“How did you get here? Do you remember?” Her voice was very gentle, but the hurt was still there.

Djeeta shook her head. “I woke up after eating something and now I’m here.” Struggling through the feathers, she did her best to explain. 

Watching from a few steps away, Gran noticed that the Djeeta lookalike seemed to be in great pain. Something within whispered that there was something very wrong here, they were missing a piece of the puzzle. Lyria tugged Gran down to her level and whispered in his ear while the girl in front of them played with the feathers surrounding her.

“Those Primal Beasts I sensed earlier are all here, I think they’re within her? Though since we’ve arrived they’ve changed from being distinct souls to being.” She took a breath to stop her shaking voice. “They're all one now, one soul in one body, but the body might be struggling with the new souls? What I’m trying to say is, this is Djeeta.” Lyria was holding back tears, looking at the Captain who didn’t remember them.

While they whispered between themselves the girl by the river observed them, they spoke so easily and seemed to know her, but she could not remember them. All she could remember was waking up under this tree with a feeling like something was trying to break out of her.

Sitting back, Lyria and Gran were at a loss, they could not force Djeeta to remember them, they were obviously asleep and sharing a dream which wasn’t uncommon, but the reason for those shared dreams tended to revolve around Djeeta as the Singularity.

“Does the word Singularity mean anything to you?” Gran asked offhandedly, not expecting a response from the mostly silent girl.

Her eyes snapped to him, instantly making him very uncomfortable, this was the most clear she had been since they’d met in this space. She smiled and nodded, while pointing towards her chest.

Ignoring the feathers, she spoke clearly for the first time. “That’s me, Father keeps whispering that I am important because of that title.” 

“Father? Djeeta, you haven’t seen your Father since you were a child.” Gran spoke in a level voice, trying to understand the strange girl.

Djeeta shook her head, very plainly disagreeing with Gran. _ So someone did this to her, put her in this state and is now parading as her Father? _ He was furious, but pushed it down as to not scare the girl. 

Suddenly Djeeta doubled over in pain, panting as more feathers flowed from her mouth, more and more, uncontrollable and fear-inducing. Groaning she pushed the two away from her and stood up, it was then that Gran and Lyria saw the scars down either side of her spine, diamonds of flesh that looked like they were about to burst. 

Screaming as her skin ripped open, six wings, the same colour as the feathers on the ground grew from her and while they were beautiful, she had no control over them as they flapped haphazardly. 

Still crying out, Gran noticed Djeeta clutching her ears as blood poured from between her fingers, all throughout this horrific scene runes snaked across her skin, settling on her torso, arms, neck and thighs, they glowed with an almost holy radiance, but this was offset by the blood that dripped from where they had carved into her. 

Lyria tried to get closer but found herself pushed back by some invisible force, her chest hurt, just like it had before they’d collapsed on the deck of the Grandcypher. The pain was almost unbearable, with the only thing keeping her up being her worry for Djeeta. Gran seemed to be in similar pain, his eyes glued to his friend as he bit his lip to keep from screaming himself.

Taking her blood stained hands away from her head, Gran was shocked to see two little winglike appendages sticking out from just above Djeeta’s ears sweeping back towards the back of her head, even these little wings fluttered uncontrollably. 

Falling to her knees, Djeeta vomited up the last of the feathers, purging them from within like a plague. Within the last of these feathers she noticed a little ball of light, inside the ball of light seemed to be a blue liquid, feeling an urge to eat it she picked it up and studied it, her body was still shaking and changing, Djeeta felt close to death, the pain was so bad and she would do anything to make it stop. Without hearing the cries of the two nearby she swallowed the light with the liquid and slowly felt her body calming down. 

Finally, everything went still, Djeeta could speak, but it was obvious the girl they had been talking to just minutes ago was no longer here. Looking over at Gran and Lyria she smiled sadly.

“I have to wake up now, Father wants to speak to me. If fate wishes for it, I will see you again soon.” Her voice sounded almost ethereal, echoing without the means to do so.

“Wait! Djeeta! Please don’t go.” Grans words fell on deaf ears, Djeeta had already walked out of sight, leaving himself and Lyria alone, stunned.

* * *

In the lab Lucilius heard a faint noise while inspecting the repair work Belial had finished, he rushed towards the source, which just so happened to be the lab housing the Cradle. His heels clicking to the beat of his pulse, he slammed the door open just to be greeted by a naked, yawning Djeeta. Her wings were spread out around her like a wedding train, shaking her head the smaller wings fluttered and folded, settling over her ears. 

“Oh, her hair turned white huh? Was that apart of the plan?” The snarky voice behind him did not dampen the accomplishment Lucilius felt at that moment.

“I did not plan for it, but I assume absorbing my own and Lucifer's power might have changed that part of it.” Observing the half asleep Primal, Lucilius began taking notes.

Belial approached Djeeta without needing to be asked, helping her up, he steadied her as she tucked her wings into a resting position and tested her legs. Running through the motions, Lucilius tested ranges of movement and flexibility while noting down all the positive changes. 

“Okay final test, can it speak.” He had saved this for last, if it didn’t speak now it was a lost cause.

“Yes Father, I can speak.” Djeeta smiled at Lucilius fondly, confusing the Astral.

“Father? Why not call him Daddy instead?” Barely holding back laughter Belial watched the expressions flash across Cilius’ face.

“Shut it Belial. This is fine, it will probably work out for us in the end.” Cutting off any weird line of questioning that Belial was thinking of Lucilius moved on. 

“Please get it something to wear and cover its shame, you told the mortals you were a fashion designer so I assume you have at least some talent in the field.” Dismissing Belial, Lucilius lead the newly conscious Primal to her temporary home.

It was almost time to move to the next stage.

* * *

Sitting up in bed, Gran and Lyria stared blankly into space. They’d told the others what they remembered, but all in all it was very blurry and hard to make sense of it. Only Sandalphon seemed to have an idea of what occurred, but he did not share his theory with them, only leaving saying he had to take care of another matter.

Lyria spoke of an impending sense of dread that wouldn’t leave her heart. 

Gran spoke of an emptiness that felt never ending.

Both prayed for fate to bless them and reunite them with Djeeta.

Fate would give them their wish, but no one can say if it ended up being a blessing.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucilius does his daily checkup on Djeeta, but changes it up to test her.  
Belial has a no good, very bad day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, happy new year! It's been a while and I've been busy as all hell, I'm sorry this took so long but I dearly hope this chapter is good enough to make it up to you.

When was the last time Belial rested? He couldn’t tell you himself, but it was at least 2000 years. Spending millennia hiding every trace of yourself and blending in with mortals was surprisingly tough work, though that wasn’t the main reason for his lack of a good night's sleep. Closing his eyes brought him back to a time he would rather forget, after all finding the one person you’d spent your entire existence trying to get the attention of murdered was not a pleasant experience, and so forget he did, indulging himself with mortal pleasures and pastimes until his creator,_ his messiah _, awoke. 

Wandering the halls of the lab bored, Belial was overcome with an urge to check on Lucilius’ newest creation. Making his way to her room a little huff escaped him as he peeked in and saw that she was staring at the wall, doing nothing. 

It was not originally his intention to bring her here, he’d just wanted some fun, watching her struggle to make his scythe was a good time waster and on top of that Belial knew the Singularity had feelings for Sandalphon, so he did what he was best for and worked his way into her dreams for some petty revenge. Taking the one mortal that was so obviously in love with Sandalphon away from him before he was even aware of her feelings was amusing, and Djeeta ended up being an interesting speck of sand in the desert of humanity. 

In the end, Lucilius found out about their contact, and tasked him with bringing the human into the void, which was simple enough as by that point he’d made Djeeta reliant on him. The expression as she realized his betrayal would be enough to help Belial reach climax for a long time.

Lost in his thoughts, Belial failed to notice that Djeeta had moved from the bed and was now staring at him from the other side of the window, jumping back as she tapped the glass, he tilted his head and watched as she copied the movement. The small wings on the sides of her head were perked up, almost like a dog, though her face barely changed expression when not with Lucilius, the little wings were proving to be a good indication of her moods. 

“Move away from there, I don’t want you teaching it useless things.” Lucilius sneered at Belial as he pushed the Primal aside, it was time for Djeeta to have her daily checkup. 

Obediently stepping back, Belial observed as Cilius went through the motions of checking over Djeeta, her language skills were poor but she could speak and that was good enough to continue with the plan, whatever the plan was, Lucilius had yet to communicate the details to Belial.

“Okay. Now tell me, what is your purpose?” Lucilius had not told this creature what it was made for, but if the transition had been complete, it should know.

“Yes Father. I am the Primarch overseeing Fates Path, and the Primal Beast of Fates Thread.” While speaking, Djeeta summoned forth little threads, pulling them taunt between her fingers.

Nodding, pleased at the answer, Lucilius motioned for her to continue.

Smiling as she turned her eyes to Belial, he observed the threads change colour. A light purple crept up them as Djeeta stared deeply into the strings, her mouth moved, but no words came out. Suddenly she pulled away, gasping, glaring at Belial. 

“Your fate is hard to read, but whatever you do, it brings nothing good upon any close to you.” It was the first time they’d heard Djeeta’s voice ring with power, it sent shivers down Belial’s spine.

Lucilius could barely contain his elation, his pet seemed to be in working order, it was almost time to send it away and move into the next phase. 

“I have one more request of you for today. Show me what form your weapon takes, be it just one, or multiple.” Cilius gripped his workboard tightly, trying not to let his emotions leak into his expression.

This was the last test.

Raising her hands above her, Djeeta summoned more threads, once again they were stained light purple. Belial was curious, but also a little bored, _ what could these little strings even do? _

After a moment of concentration, a replica of Belial’s scythe was woven from the threads, to the surprise of both Lucilius and Belial. It was the same in nearly every aspect, except for one glaring difference, the scythe was almost pure white, only tainted by the edge of the blade being dyed the same colour as the threads used to form it.

“Why in Pandemonium is her weapon exactly like mine? Is this some sort of messed up punishment for fucking the human before you got to use her?” Belial glared at Cilius, his anger bubbling to the surface. 

_ Once again I’m to be replaced by another, I am the one who spent millennia to keep your plan alive! Yet you’re taunting me by making my toy take my place by your side?! _

Djeeta hummed, dismissing the scythe. As the threads unraveled and returned to her palm she flicked her gaze towards the silent Lucilius, his eyes were locked onto the near raging Primal at the room entrance. Getting an idea, the threads once again lit up but instead of the purple from before, they were now dyed a dark, brooding navy blue. 

Noticing far too late what his pet was doing, Lucilius watched on as she wove a replica of his own sword, _ Renunciation, _like the previous weapon the sword was pure white save for the blue from the thread outlining the blade.

“I never gave you permission to look at my threads.” His voice was barely above a whisper, hardly able to bury the fury at the possibility of this beast reading his fate.

Failing to read the emotions rolling off her creator, Djeeta’s head wings wiggle as she tries to show her new weapon to Lucilius. 

A loud clattering fills the room as the sword is smacked away, Djeeta’s wings fold flat against her as she finally gets the message about Lucilius’ emotions.

“Father…?”

Before she can carry on, Lucilius violently forces a hand into her mouth, silencing the Primal.

“Pet. Never and I mean **never**, look at my threads without permission. My fate is for me to decide and for no one else to know, you should have known better.” Still not above a whisper, his voice dripped with animosity towards the cowering, naked Djeeta. 

Belial watches the exchange from the doorway, processing the information displayed within the last few minutes. The threads could weave into weapons seemingly based on the colour they’d taken, and the colour was based on the fate Djeeta was channeling. How she even sees the fate of another would stay unanswered, Belial had a hunch he wouldn’t understand or be able to replicate it. All that mattered was that no one was being replaced, as embarrassing as his outburst had been, he’d shrug it off. 

Taking a breath before stepping forward, Belial pulls Lucilius away from Djeeta, once freed she falls to the floor, wings enveloping her body, choked apologies punctuated with sobs can be heard from within the mess of shivering wings.

“I am sure she understands your meaning now, it was the first time displaying her abilities since awakening. Cut some slack.” Belial kept his voice level, not wanting the anger transition onto him.

Lucilius sighed, glaring at the sobbing mass on the floor. “Fine, no more punishment for now, but if this happens again I will strip one of its wings. I am gracious and forgiving after all. It can keep that copy of my sword, as long as it remembers this interaction.” With that, Lucilius strode from the room. 

As the click of Cilius’ heels faded, Belial coaxed the young Primal to leave their self made nest. Giving her pats and praise as she slowly unfolded her wings. Djeeta and her continued nakedness was bothering Belial, well at least one particular part of Belial. Deciding to take action, he pulled out the dress he’d crafted especially for her. There was no desire to take advantage of a creature who probably had no clue what consent was.

It was a beautiful piece, a slightly sky blue tinted, offwhite fabric, cut with a completely open back so she could learn to dismiss her wings in time. Fastened with a collar at the neck, which was decorated with small frills to give it a delicate look. The chest area was cut with a deep-V extending between her breasts, this was his own personal preference shining through, but it also matched her pale skin as well as displaying the faintly glowing runes spanning her body and the deep scar that ran diagonally across her chest from her right shoulder down between her breasts, stopping at her left hip, it was a scar Belial often found himself wanting to run his fingers along.

Motioning Djeeta to step into the ring of the skirt, Belial pulled the dress up, fastening the collar and adjusting the chest. His experience with her body had been helpful with the sizing, as the decorative armor pieces he’d sewn into the dress perfectly supported her breasts without being constricting. Gently turning Djeeta around, he finished the process by clipping the armor together at her lower back, below her wings. The dull gold armor was cut with a swirling, floral pattern that let the material show through and complemented the non-patterned fabric.

Shaking her wings happily, Djeeta spun around and watched as the floaty skirt spun with her. The skirt portion itself was rather plain, a high-low style, with the front showing from her midthigh down, leading into an almost floor length back, it reminded Belial of a birds tail feathers. The entire dress was lined along the seams with a thin pale material that faded between blue and purple along the length, matching with the gradient her plumage displayed. 

Belial nodded, pleased, the fit was perfect with no defects in the construction. He hadn’t made the dress so nicely for the girl herself, he’d done so only because Lucilius had asked him, if anyone saw Djeeta, they’d know she was powerful based on the sight of her dress alone. 

_ Tsk. _

“Forgot shoes.” He shrugged. “It’s not like you need them here, but if he sends you out somewhere, it might be smart to get some.” Belial was bored, as nice as the girl in front of him looked, she was not here to entertain him.

“Thank you, Belial.” She spoke quietly, but the flapping of her head wings showed how pleased Djeeta was.

Petting her head one last time, Belial walked out of the cell, making sure to lock the door behind him. 

* * *

  
  


Catching up with Lucilius, Belial waited until the other felt the urge to acknowledge him. They’d played this game many times, with the record being 10 years of silence from Cilius, which was only broken because he had personal orders for the Primal.

“It seems to be a good time, when can you get another portal into the Skyrealm open?” The Astral locked eyes with Belial, not bothering to hide how smug he was feeling. 

“Two days, the link between here and the ship is stronger since we physically have her here while my scythe is there.” Rubbing the back of his head, Belial knew the next few days were going to be busy.

“Do it, and as soon as it's open we send it back.” Standing to lean over his desk, Lucilius pulled multiple documents from the shelves. “Not much time but I will train it as much as possible.” 

Belial waited for any lingering instructions from Lucilius, but after a sharp click of the tongue he got the message. Leaving the office he lazily made his way to the room he’d used for his previous excursions to the Skyrealm. 

“Well, let’s get to work. Can’t leave Sandy waiting for his surprise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @eruneears on twitter  
The dress description is so long but I really want people to understand how pretty i imagine it to be, sorry!  
I 46 boxed last gw and finally got my uncap for Six! That was tiring with work on top haha.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belial is a bad person, but i'm pretty sure we all knew that  
Djeeta is home?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again i barely edited this, with school i dont have the time like i used to, but if you notice something big feel free to let me know.  
any comments you guys have left on previous chapters have really been what's kept me writing, so thank you to anyone who is nice enough to let me know you like my work.  
I am also working on a Six/Djeeta fic, still planning it but it will not be a long one, so it won't impact this too much.  
eruneears on twitter if you want to see how i procrastinate

  
  


“Again. Do it again. Over and over until you can do it without thinking.” Lucilius was pissed, and he was not trying to hide it.

Training Djeeta had turned into a laborious task, the new Primal was struggling with basic concepts, things that as a human she knew without needing to put in effort. This bothered Lucilius greatly, she was speaking more, learned quickly and could fight like she was born to do so, but things like reading and writing were a mountain steeper than the climb to the Etemenanki. Putting cores of high class Primals inside of her should have counteracted the limiters on any of them, on top of no limiter being placed on Djeeta herself. 

Watching from his place against the wall, Belial sighed, Lucilius might be a genius among the Astrals but he wasn’t a teacher and his methods were not helping the new Primal he was attempting to instruct. Taking a few steps forward Belial pointed out how to solve the problem, and saw her face light up as it clicked in her head.  _ Finally.  _

“Okay, she’s finally got this down, the portal to the Skydom has been ready for days, I can only keep this up for a little longer Cilius.” 

“You’ll hold on as long as I need.” 

“As hot as that is, I can only hold on for so long until I burst, so give me a little slack maybe?”

Lucilius scowled. “Disgusting.”

“You made me this way.” Belial barely hid his smile behind his hand. 

Shaking his head, Lucilius stood before Djeeta, she looked up at him curiously. When not being spoken to she had a habit of tuning out all noise, this was something he had not been able to work out of her. It was fine in some cases, he did not want her to learn too many vulgar speech patterns from Belial.

“Get up.” He nodded as she swifty got to her feet. “Okay, I am going to send you somewhere, and as your Father I am going to ask you to do some things for me.” 

As Lucilius spoke, Djeeta’s face fell, he’d expected this as well, she did not want to be parted from the person she viewed as her parental figure. If she refused though, all the restraint he had shown over the last week would shatter, there would be no stopping him from punishing her.

“Yes Father, I will do what is asked of me.” Sadness leaked through her speech, also expected.

“Good child. Belial will be escorting you, and when you get there he’ll instruct you on what to do, okay?” Feigning a gentle nature was difficult, but it had to be done. 

Belial nodded, he knew the plan, afterall Lucilius had spent his time away from Djeeta drilling it into him. Would he follow the plan to the letter? That was only for Belial to know.

The next few hours went by quickly, making sure she was dressed well, her hair was fixed, and her wings were clean, she had not learned how to hide them yet, but with the dress being made with that in mind it wasn’t an obstacle. 

Lucilius nodded at Belial. “Don’t you dare mess this up, I might not be able to see what is going on out there but I will know.” 

“Yes, yes Cilius. I am your loyal dog, I won’t make you look bad.” Belial rolled his eyes, which earned him a swift kick in the back. 

Stumbling forward onto the portal room, Belial found Djeeta staring through the giant fluctuating door to the Skyrealm. Approaching from behind, she jumped as Belial put an arm around her shoulders, pressing his face against her soft hair, he planted a small kiss on the miniature wing above her ear and watched as it fluttered in confusion. 

“Are you ready little Primal?” Honestly, he didn’t care if she wasn’t ready but was pleased when she nodded her affirmative. 

Grabbing Djeeta by the waist Belial summoned his own wings, startling her. Jumping through the portal he hovered in the air for a moment before locking onto the lingering power from his scythe aboard the Grandcypher. 

“Belial. I can fly by myself, please let me go.” Djeeta spoke up over the rushing wind as she ran her fingers over the runes etched into his arm, the ones so similar to her own.

“Okay little one, I will let go on the count of three.” She nodded so he continued. “Three, two, one.” 

Falling a few feet before her wings snapped open, Djeeta squeaked. Shaking her head to disperse her fear, she aligned herself beside Belial as he laughed. 

“You looked like a chick being forced from the nest for a second there Singularity.”

Looking away in embarrassment, Djeeta snapped. “Well you should have been gentler with me then, Father would have been gentle with me.” 

Laughing harder, Belial wiped tears from his eyes. “You think Lucilius would have been gentle with you? He would have just kicked you through the portal without a care. Gosh you've gained quite the attitude the more you speak. Now come on, we have places to be, people to see.” 

Flying ahead, Djeeta took a while to adjust to the feel of flying in the Skyrealm, the air was so alive, there were so many fates she could sense nearby. So different from the void, where all she could sense were Father and Belial. 

Eventually, the ship came into view. Belial halted and watched as Djeeta drifted to a stop beside him, her eyes were locked on the ship, a mix of confusion and fear flashing across her face.

“I feel like I know this ship.”

“You probably do, you’re not as young as you think, though compared to me you’re barely a baby.” He continued observing, this was the moment of truth, he had to tell her the plan.

“I’m going to leave you on that ship, I will go back to the void. I do not know when or if I will pick you up. The crew of that ship will look after you.” Belial smiled, while this wasn’t a lie, it wasn’t exactly the true instructions either. 

“Belial! You took me away from Father for this? I don’t want to be here! I want to go back!” Djeeta hadn’t been trained to hold back her rage, this was another test, though she didn’t know it. 

“If you can beat me, I will take you back.” All humor was gone from Belial as he summoned his giant red swords, his eyes lacked any mercy for the young Primal.

Gritting her teeth, Djeeta summoned her own oversized swords, they settled on either side of her, used for both fighting and channeling power, it had taken her a short time to learn how to bring them out. 

“Ah, so yours are blue eh? I would have thought they’d be yellow or gold. Blue is such a lonely colour Sing-u-lar-ity.” Dragging out the last word, Belial watched Djeeta as her expression twisted with uncontrollable anger. 

“Let us dance Fate Weaver! I hope you’ll be able to satisfy me, I like to play rough.” 

* * *

  
  


Lyria went stiff as she felt a surge of Primal energy nearby, running out onto the deck followed by a confused Gran and Katalina, she swiftly saw the cause of the surge. Two Primals were fighting near the ship, the levels of their power were frightening, both were equal or surpassed the Primarchs and may even be on the same level as Sandalphon. 

“What is that? Why are they fighting?” Gran looked worried, if they came closer to the ship he would have to intervene, he felt unsure, both parties felt familiar even from far away.

Sandalphon had made his way to the deck as well, as soon as he saw the fight he froze. 

“Belial.” One word, dripping with malice. 

“Wait, Belial is here? Shouldn’t he be locked away with Lucilius?” Gran was confused, how could he have gotten out? It was a theory that he’d taken Djeeta, but no one could realistically believe it. 

During his confusion, the Primal which glowed with blue and white energy was flung towards them, it landed solidly on the deck, somehow not breaking anything only cracking the wood. As she stood up, the entire ship rippled with silence and shock, this six winged Primal shaking herself off looked exactly like Djeeta. Though her hair was white and her eyes were different, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that this was their lost captain.

“Oh, looks like I got a hole in one. Don’t stand up Fate Weaver, you cannot win.” Belial hovered over the ship, glaring down at Djeeta. 

“I get to say when I lose Belial! I am not down yet, I refuse to stay here. Take me back to Father.” Her voice was desperate, knowing there was no chance of winning but not wanting to stay in this sunlit world.

“Your Father was the one who told me to bring you here. He abandoned you. Yet again.” He didn’t say this to hurt her, though he knew it would, Belial just wanted to derail the plan a little.

"You have to be lying! I've seen your threads, you cannot be honest."

"Look at my threads again if you don't believe me." The normal playful nature Belial lived with was nowhere to be seen.

Djeeta couldn’t process this news, sitting back down on the deck she finally looked around at all the shocked faces staring at them. They seemed familiar but something else drew her attention, a particularly powerful aura that might help her. 

Belial noticed her stare locked onto someone on deck, gasping as he realized her plan he swooped down to stop her, but failed.

Taking a deep breath, Djeeta summoned her threads and spoke. 

“Fates Binding, show me the path and open a new door.” 

On deck, Lyria felt a pain in her chest, locking eyes with this Djeeta lookalike seems to have been a bad idea. Gran held her close as the wind whirled around Djeeta.

Everyone on deck looked on in shock as the light blue threads weaved into a simple sword, pure white and radiant, the edges glowed the same blue as the threads. Standing face to chest with Belial, Djeeta held her new sword to his throat, he’d landed beside her but was too late to stop the use of her powers.

“You think a little sword will stop me? Even if it comes from the blue girl it won’t help you.”

“She won't be able to stop you, but I might.” Without waiting for a response, Sandalphon jumped between the two, his wings spread out in their full glory, his sword took the place of Djeeta’s at the other Primals throat. 

Belial sighed, this was taking too long, he needed to get back to the lab soon. Pulling from the small amount of Avatar corruption within himself, he dodged past Sandalphon, shoving the small ball into Djeeta, right in the middle of her back between the wings. Taking advantage of the distraction the now screaming and writhing Singularity caused, Belial made his escape. 

Flying as fast as his wings could carry him, Belial dashed through the portal, almost knocking out Lucilius as he landed. 

_ Well fuck, I’m in trouble aren’t I. _

* * *

  
  


With Belial gone, the Grandcypher crew focused in on the angelic Djeeta, she had six wings, well eight if you counted the small wings on either side of her head that currently covered her slightly pointed ears. Sandalphon had carried the whimpering unconscious Primal to a spare room with a Draph sized bed, her wings made it difficult to place her in a human bed. 

The main crew members surrounded her with the addition of Shao, Sandalphon and Lucio. The last two stood back and discussed the changes within the captain, they’d confirmed without a doubt that this was the missing Djeeta, the scar spanning her chest that was visible with the low cut nature of her dress had been the deciding factor, on top of Gran and Lyria confirming this was who they’d met in their dream. 

“What did he do to her at the end? The power coming from it felt disgusting, like someone had mixed all the bad parts of the world into a ball.” Lyria had been crying uncontrollably since they’d moved Djeeta away. 

“I cannot say what this is, it wasn’t anything of this world, so I cannot medicate it.” Shao stood back, musing as he went through his cabinet of herbs and other ingredients.

As they spoke Gran yelped and pointed at the runes spanning her body, they’d been glowing with a soft light, but now the light was twisting with darkness. 

“It’s almost similar to Belial when he took in the Avatar power.” Sandalphon spoke up, finally approaching Djeeta, he was confused and in pain, but he had a responsibility as the Supreme Primarch. 

The rest of the group nodded, all except Shao who just shrugged. 

“Sandalphon, I have an idea but it requires the mortals to leave the room.” No one had noticed Lucio move beside Djeeta but at the sound of his mysterious and somehow persuasive voice the others nodded and filed out in a haze.

Turning towards Lucio, Sandalphon frowned and motioned for him to explain himself.

“This will just be a temporary measure, and I cannot say how long it might work for, if it works at all. I can feel the touch of my clone on the captain, his power and his creations power are flowing within her.” The mention of Lucifer startled Sandalphon, but he nodded at Lucio to continue. “There are other sources within her as well, but she seems to control those, no danger with them, but there must have been even just a touch of the Black Beasts power within, Belial must have used that to incapacitate the Singularity.”

“So what you seem to be hinting at is we need to counter the power that’s eating away at her. I know you pretend to be an actor but use less words next time.” Sandalphon was only slightly less confused. 

Lucio nodded and held out his hand, within it glowed a small ball of light, his own essence. He wasn’t sure that this was the correct course, trying in vain to reach his creator within his mind to make sure this was right, but like always there was no answer. 

Sandalphon extended his own hand, taking the ball from Lucio he added his own power to it, enough to make the whole room glow brightly. Gently seating himself next to Djeeta, he placed one hand on her forehead, brushing her hair back while the other hand pushed the ball, of hopefully life saving power, into her chest. 

Reluctantly standing back once finished, Sandalphon called the others back into the room. 

Now only time would tell if their haphazard solution worked. 

* * *

Within the light the angel sat,

The light would sing to her, 

But the darkness sang louder,

Darkness swept away the light, 

Within the dark the angel cried,

Alone and scared, 

The darkness sang,

But she could not make out the words,

From the angels heart,

A light flew forth,

Filled with love and hope,

Her world once again sang with light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I barely did anything in wind GW , im a sham!!!!!!  
I hope you enjoyed the chapter, i enjoyed writing it for you.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Djeeta sleeps, Sandalphon continues to struggle and poor Gran just wants everything back to normal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone is keeping safe with everything going on.  
it's 3am, I don't edit well at this time.

Sandalphon paced the length of the corridor, he’d long ago been kicked out of the room Djeeta was resting in. She had yet to open her eyes but judging by the flow of mana running through the runes etched into the skin her condition had improved, at least physically. No one could guess what this new version of their beloved captain was thinking or dreaming, she was a stranger in a place familiar, yet new.

Starting at the creak of the door, Sandalphon spun around only to find himself face to face with Gran. The co-captain and Sub-Singularity looked exhausted, his eyes puffy and red. It was obvious to all that he’d spent most of his waking hours the last few days crying, no one could fault him for this, nor would they ever wish to. 

“Sandalphon, the tapping of your heels are going to give people a headache. Please just sit down.” Gran motioned to the chairs that had been dragged into the hall for those who wanted to check in on Djeeta. “You’re going to wear yourself down and probably at this rate make a dent in the flooring, and I don’t want to deal with Noa on top of all this. Please. Relax.” His voice broke as he struggled to keep it together. 

Shrugging, Sandalphon ceased pacing only to transition to fidgeting anxiously while selfishly thinking that he understood what Gran was feeling at this moment, though if he put some more thought into it he would probably find Gran was in much more pain. Growing up with someone and now seeing them in a state where you don’t exist within them is unbearably painful. 

From within the room an unfamiliar, almost animalistic noise could be heard. Rushing back in Gran and Sandalphon found a previously unmoving Djeeta on the bed convulsing and groaning as feathers fell from her wings. Her groans only grew in volume as she tore at her flesh, mostly her exposed skin where any runes lay, even as they bled they kept pulsing with a now unsettling light. 

Rushing forward to restrain the captain the two managed to rip the bedsheets and clumsily tie Djeeta up. As horrible as it made the both of them feel, seeing the blood dripping from her arms and torso dulled the feeling, if only a little. 

“What happened?! We heard yelling and movement, is everything okay?” Katalina leapt into the room, her hair a mess as she’d been napping after monitoring Djeeta overnight. 

Behind Katalina trailed Lyria, Rakam, Siete, Lucio and Rosetta. Upon seeing the state Djeeta was in most of them glared in Sandalphon’s direction, Siete and Lucio the only two not jumping to conclusions.

“Did you do something to her Supreme Primarch?” Rosetta took a protective stance between Sandalphon and the now silent Djeeta.

_ Ah, her thorns are showing.  _ The thought slipped through Sandalphon’s mind as he locked eyes with his fellow Primal.

“No, she was sleeping soundly and while Gran came to speak to me she began growling and ripping at herself. I assume her body is trying to reject the darkness forced into it.” Struggling to keep his voice level, Sandalphon found himself over explaining the situation, he sighed as the tension in the room only slightly decreased.

Though one thought remained. 

_ Why would they think he would attack Djeeta? _

His confusion must have been obvious in his expression as Katalina was the first to semi-relax, scratching the back of her head as she watched Sandalphon cautiously. 

“Some of the other Primals were scared, though you may have humanoid forms you’re still beasts and instinct is a powerful thing. They thought maybe you, as the Supreme Primarch, may reject her existence for being too close to your own.” Katalina tried to hide her worry, but he could feel it leaking through.

Siete stepped forward, a casual motion, but all eyes were drawn to him as he commanded the attention of the room.

“Mister Grumpy Angel here is fine, he’s explained himself. Considering Gran hasn’t attacked him either, I'd bet the story is correct and you’re all just ruffling feathers. He might have tried to kill us all in the past but that’s not who good ol’ Sandalphon is now.” Siete kept his normal cheeky voice, but his last sentence was laced with something approaching a warning.

Sandalphon was aware that he should retreat, go and cool off, relax and wait for the tension to ease. He didn’t want to do this, his one wish was to stay by Djeeta’s side and hope when she awoke that everything would be back to how it was just months ago. 

Lucio could see the inner conflict Sandalphon was battling and made the choice for him, dragging them from the room, Lucio relocated to the now closed cafe where Sandalphon spent ninety percent of his time.

“Sandalphon, do not let your emotions run wild. We cannot have anything happening while the crew is in such a delicate state.” The forever calm tone Lucio spoke with was almost like a tranquilizer to the agitated Primarch. 

Nodding before leaning his head against the countertop, Sandalphon let out a low growl. They hadn’t been wrong, his base senses were all trying to reject Djeeta, it took all his effort to control himself. Primals might be seen as gods by some but most mortals did not realize just how close to the common beast they were. 

It did not help that this new Djeeta had a different scent, all creatures had their own and Primals were good at remembering each other by scents since their forms could easily change. Her new scent was a mix of the old and others that felt familiar while also alien, it agitated him to no end. 

_ Why did the change in her annoy him so much? Surely he didn’t feel that strongly for a mortal?  _ Lucio was confused, but he kept this to himself.

Suppressing everything was almost a talent to Sandalphon, his entire life could be summed up as him bottling up everything that bothered him, but this was hard, on the same level as the agitation he’d felt towards Lucifer all those years ago. 

_ That’s it. _

_ She feels like the old me.  _ The realization rang through his head, clearing away most of the fog filled with irritation.

_   
_ “You’re going to have to support her, you are the only one on the ship, maybe even the whole sky, who could possibly relate to her, putting your past aside, since she has forgotten it.” There was no malice in Lucio’s speech, but the words stung.

Sandalphon winced and once again nodded, this time with his head against the table. 

Now he was going to have to learn to keep his instincts under control, there was no way he could harm her. A new Primal needs guidance, which Sandalphon barely experienced due to how sheltered his early life had been, but he knew what had to be done. 

* * *

Gran sat on the edge of the giant bed, the now curled up Djeeta reminded him of the time as children that they’d found an injured baby bird in the woods, they spent weeks feeding it and keeping it safe, but the second they released it a dog from the village came along and ate it. It had been a sad moment for them both. Thinking about that memory made a surge of protective emotion spread through him. Nothing would harm her, Gran wouldn’t allow it. 

Without noticing, his fingers were running through her hair, a comforting motion he’d done throughout their lives, it had been the only way to calm Djeeta down through storms. 

_ The crybaby is now something almost unrecognizable huh?  _ A bitter smile formed as he kept petting.

The small ball of curled up feathers let out a grumble while unconsciously leaning into Gran’s hand, the bitter smile bloomed into a grateful one, Djeeta was still in there, she was just hiding. He had to believe this. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Primal Beasts are called Beasts for a reason, lets make them more beast-like for fun.  
once again @eruneears on twitter for all your "tired random stranger on the internet" needs.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Djeeta wakes up but doesn't try to escape the ship itself, Lucio is a little shifty and finally crew members get to talk to this new Djeeta.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone is doing well, thank you for reading.

“Woah now, take a deep breath and calm down, no one here will hurt you.” 

At the request of Gran, Shao had agreed to solo monitor the sleeping Djeeta instead of Sandalphon, who seemed to be on the verge of a breakdown whenever he was near her. What he hadn’t anticipated was her awakening, and now he was face to feathers with a near feral Primal Beast that looked to be eyeing him up like prey. 

_ Oh Skies, why did I agree to this. _

Backing himself to the door, never taking his eyes off the puffed up Djeeta, Shao carefully opened it and called down the halls, praying that someone, anyone, was ignoring the temporary order to stay away and was within hearing range to get the others for help.

Shao didn't recall breaking eye contact, but he must have because one second she was on the bed, wings spread and feathers out and the next she was throwing him out of the way and leaping down the halls. Laying dazed on the floor he sighed,  _ no one better blame me for this.  _

Djeeta was scared, her mind was racing, this entire ship felt so familiar yet she could not force the memories to the surface. Panting as she rounded another corner she found herself near jumping into someone's arms, ignoring the shouts of surprise she pushed on, something was guiding her, Djeeta had no clue if this was in her best interest but anything was better than being trapped in that room with the unknown Erune. 

Tucking her wings against herself, she kept pushing faster and faster through the halls, not caring if the resulting noise notified others where she was. From the cries throughout the halls, this strange crew seemed to have a system of tracking where she was anyway. 

Skidding to a halt, Djeeta stopped to listen and try once again to draw whatever was compelling her out of the depths of her mind, yet again failing she let out a frustrated growl. Leaning against the door in front of her, she was hesitant to open it, even though she had been lead to this room it still felt too suspicious that no one had stopped her along the way, all instincts within were screaming at her to get onto the deck and into the sky, away from this place, but something much stronger was telling, no, forcing, her to stay. 

“I’d stop that if I were you, Singularity.” A calming voice drifted from behind her.

Spinning around, Djeeta locked eyes with the owner of the soothing voice.

“Speaker. What do you want?” Hissing through gritted teeth, Djeeta glared at Lucio.

If he was surprised that she knew his true identity he hid it well, slowly stepping towards her as one would a wounded wild dog. 

“I only wish to stop this foolish parade and get you back to your room. This place is not for you.” Though his tone stayed the same, his eyes hardened as he got closer, Lucio felt no need to hide his emotions in front of one who knew his true self. 

“This is my room, Speaker.” Djeeta placed her hand on the handle, she felt no doubt, even with the confusion within asking how she knew it was her space. 

Lucio sighed, this was getting complicated and he had no time for it. Summoning one of his swords, he threw it towards Djeeta. 

* * *

  
  
A majority of the crew had gathered on the deck, with only those quick on their feet and good communication sent back into the ship to track Djeeta and her escape. Unfortunately they’d lost sight near her old room, which wasn’t a shock to the few that were aware of the barrier that had been erected in that area to keep all but a select few out.

The quiet murmuring of the crew was cut by the arrival of Lucio, which alone was enough to draw the eyes of many, but more than just his handsome presence he had something else with him.

“Djeeta!” Pushing aside those around him, Gran ran over to the once again unconscious Primal now draped over Lucios shoulder. 

After placing her on the deck gently Lucio tugged on the small wings tucked against Djeeta’s ears.

“Wake up little angel, they’re waiting for you.” His voice was barely above a whisper, but there was a small surge of mana as he spoke. 

Sitting up sleepily, Djeeta looked around at the familiar yet foreign faces watching her. Jolting up she pushed herself against the railing of the deck and cautiously observed, when it seemed that she wasn’t in danger she relaxed, if only a little.

Gran once again felt a twinge of pain as he saw how afraid Djeeta was, like an abandoned pet by the side of the road.

“Djeeta, no one here wishes to harm you, surely you can see that by now?” Lucio spoke up from behind Gran and Lyria, his normal smile and tone now back in place.

“He’s right, none of us here will hurt you, we all love you and missed you dearly!” Lyria was next, her enthusiasm generating a murmur of agreement from the rest of the crew on deck.

Djeeta felt confused, she knew these voices, these faces, but she could not for the life of her put a name to them. It was like part of her had been spirited away and what was left only had vague ideas of what life was.

“I don’t know who any of you are, but for now I see no use in trying to fight. At least until Father calls me back, I will stay here.” Djeeta spoke loud enough for the whole crew to hear, her words seemed to lift all tension on the ship with smiles blooming all around.

_ If I was to leave, I don’t know how Belial would find me to take me home.. _

* * *

  
  


Lucio nodded at the confirmation at last that Djeeta would be staying on board, though the last part about her “Father” worried him a little. Lucilius obviously has a plan involving the use of Djeeta and her staying on board was probably what he wanted, but sending her away was not something that could be done in good faith. 

Leaving the deck Lucio returned to the door of Djeeta’s room, only to find the Primal Noa staring at the damage done by his sword.

“Was this really necessary?” Noa spoke as he approached, not turning to face him.

“It was the only way to create an opening so I could get close enough to put her to sleep.” Lucio spoke matter-of-factly, damaging the ship was seen as a sin, especially in the eyes of this Primal.

Sighing, Noa waved his hand and repaired the small amount of damage, finally turning to lock eyes with the other. Most Primals got an odd feeling from Lucio and he knew this, they knew he was acting clueless but chose not to draw attention to it, the only ones comfortable being openly hostile or questioning towards him being Sandalphon and this small form before him, Noa.

“Don’t do it again, I cannot promise that I won’t launch you off the ship next time.” Noa spoke as he wandered away, probably to check on Rakam.

“Oh Creator, if only you would speak to me and advise me on how to act. Should I allow all this to continue?” Speaking to the emptiness around him, Lucio bit his lip in frustration as no response presented itself. 

* * *

  
  


Sandalphon landed on deck just as a majority of the crew had filtered back into the ship to continue their duties, he’d been sent away to pick up a small amount of supplies from a nearby island, he had no objections as some of the supplies had been for his cafe and checking the coffee beans himself made it less likely that he’d get a bad batch. 

His tiredness was instantly forgotten as he spotted Djeeta sitting awkwardly with a small group, Gran and Lyria to either side of her while Vryn sat on her lap, other members who had nothing to do at hand were sitting with them, introducing themselves and spinning tales.

Leaving his supplies with another of the crew who had noticed his obvious impatience to join them, Sandalphon slowly approached the group while catching snippets of their conversations.

“The first time you two met, he pointed his gun at you with the excuse he was testing your reflexes! You didn’t back down though and handed his ass back to him on a silver platter.” The energetic voice of Zeta was easy to make out as she teased the dark skinned Erune sitting nearby.

“I don’t think she needs to remember that Zeta, please keep the info you feed her to the important stuff.” Eustace frowned, his ears flicking in frustration. 

“You two, stop squabbling.” The next voice belonged to Vaseraga, the gentle giant of a Draph sighed as his companions as they devolved into teasing in front of the obviously confused Djeeta. 

“Ah! Sandalphon, you’re back!” The first to notice him was Lyria, she patted the emptiness next to her, offering the spot to him.

Nodding and taking a seat, Sandalphon observed the conversations flowing and how Djeeta seemed to be absorbing the information presented to her.

“So, I know all of you quite well?” Djeeta spoke up during a rare quiet break in the chat.

Nodding, Vaseraga spoke. “Yes, we’ve done many things together Captain, everyone here and even those not here on deck missed you, we spent a lot of time searching, just for you to drop right back into our lap.” 

Djeeta leaned on her hand, she couldn’t deny their stories, as they spoke blurry memories had presented themselves to her confirming everything they’d said more or less. 

“What about him?” Djeeta pointed to Sandalphon.

The small group paused, no one knew how to start that story so they’d avoided it. As Lyria opened her mouth to speak she was stopped by Sandalphon himself.

“I tried to kill everyone, you rammed your ship into me, I threw you off the edge of an island, somehow you saved me and we stopped the end of the world together. It’s a simple story.”

Djeeta blinked as blurry scenes flew through her mind, she looked around and the others shrugged, he wasn’t wrong. 

“Why did you throw me off the edge of an island?” 

_ Oh she’s going right for the painful points huh?  _ Sandalphon winced before responding.

“I was an idiot, at that point I did not know how important you would be to me.” 

“How important am I to you?” 

He’d been avoiding eye contact this whole time, the second he locked eyes with Djeeta, Sandalphon felt the intensity of her stare, she was seeking something he could feel.

“More important than you could ever guess.” He whispered, hoping his sincerity made it through to whatever part of Djeeta was hiding inside the winged Primal in front of him. 

Gran coughed a little and quickly changed the subject to their childhood, even as he spoke about their small village Djeeta never took her eyes off Sandalphon. 

* * *

  
  


After hours of sitting on the warm deck in the sun, Djeeta seemed to be returning more to her previous self to the pleasure of those around them. Katalina had called in most of the group for a meal as the evening drew closer, leaving only Djeeta, Sandalphon and Vryn together, with Vryn being asleep on Djeeta’s leg. 

Shuffling her wings awake she draped them around her to fend off the cold as the night approached. Djeeta knew she could use her power as a Primal to know if these mortals were telling the truth or not, but the fear of someone snapping at her like Father had stopped her. 

“Djeeta.” Sandalphon spoke, snapping her out of the bad memory.

“Yes?” She was most curious about this being, he was the Supreme Primarch, so why was he on this ship?

“Your power, what exactly is it? He called you Fate Weaver, what can you do?” 

Sandalphon was painfully curious, as well as needing to know her abilities in case he had to counter anything. 

“I am the Primal Beast of Fates Thread, I can see and read those around me through their threads.” Djeeta answered in the same tone as she had when Lucilius asked. 

Holding a palm out, she materialized a small pure white glowing thread. Summoning more she watched them weave in and out of one another, almost as if they were playing. 

“I haven’t read many fates, so I do not know the full extent of what I can be shown but I do know I cannot read my own fate.” 

Sandalphon nodded, watching the threads dance across her palm, the intense feeling of rejection within himself kept growing as the dusk turned to night. The threads seemed to glow brighter, illuminating the two as they sat in silence. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was little messy, i will try to not let it get so in the future sorry.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sandalphon watches over Djeeta as she sleeps, coming to grips with everything is difficult for the Primal and he isn't alone with his thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh boy it's been a while huh? I'm truly very sorry for this, i've been through my own personal hell these last few months and i'm still not fully okay but I want to write again.  
Please forgive how rough this chapter might feel, it's taking me a bit to get back into the swing of writing, which is why this chapter is shorter as well.

Watching from inside his cafe, Sandalphon kept an eye on Djeeta as she napped on the deck. The sun had set long ago but he did not have the heart to move her, especially since touching her increased the suffocating feeling of rejection within him. 

Clutching at his chest where the feeling seemed to originate from, thoughts rushed through his mind swinging back and forth, it felt like he was arguing with a ghost. 

_ “You have to kill that, it doesn’t belong, it shouldn’t exist.” _

_ “I can’t kill her, she needs to be protected, she can grow into a force for good.” _

_ “Her power is an unknown, she might harm others without knowing, her existence might be a detriment.” _

_ “The skies have dealt with harsher situations, one Primal isn’t going to ruin everything.” _

_ “Didn’t you, one Primal, almost ruin everything?” _

Lost within himself, Sandalphon failed to notice that he was not alone, the figure said nothing, smiling as it saw the Supreme Primarch filled with torment. The specter lazily wandered the cafe, approaching the distracted angel with no obvious haste. 

Hearing a clatter Sandalphon finally turned his head, freezing when he saw the intruder who had not even acknowledged the cup they had knocked down. 

“Who are you?” He kept his voice level, not wanting to offend in the off chance this was just a new crew member. 

“I think you know me very well, Mister Supreme Primarch. Life must be easy for you if you have time to be worried about things like that.” The figure responded in a tone as lazy as their continued approach. 

“That? You mean Djeeta? Of course I would be worried about her, she must be very confused. Also she is this crew's beloved captain.” Sandalphon did not lower his gaze, the suffocation in his chest being replaced with a simmering anger. 

Though he could not see the face of the other he could feel the sarcastic eye-rolling energy radiating off them. 

“Yes, Djeeta, the one you threw off an island previously? I’m still surprised you were allowed to stay on this ship. If it was me I would have done anything in my power to get rid of you.”

Smacking his hand against the table in frustration Sandalphon stood to confront the intruder. Now standing face to face, it was obvious something was off about this visitor, Sandalphon couldn’t make out his face no matter how hard he focused. 

Feeling slightly unnerved the Primal backed himself further against the table he’d just been sitting at. This seemed to amuse the specter, it quickly closed the gap between them, closing off any chance of escape by pinning Sandalphon against the table with its arms on either side of him.

The only light in the room came from a small candle Sandalphon had lit earlier, it flickered unhappily as the movement disturbed the flame. 

“Do you really not know who I am Sandalphon?” The intruder leaned closer, nose to nose now. 

“H..How am I meant to know who you are when I cannot see your face?” Trying to keep some sense of composure, Sandalphon swallowed down his panic.

The figure laughed, taking a step back as he did. Reaching up it pulled back its hood, once again leaning closer to Sandalphon it tilted its head in a curious manner, surely now the Primal would understand.

“What? How can you…? Impossible.” Any sense of reality faded as Sandalphon blinked at who was before him.

“How can I? How can you Sandalphon? Did you forget everything? The hatred? The fear? The pain of being locked up in Pandemonium?! How could YOU?” The intruder's voice raised higher and higher, madness twisting itself in the more it spoke. 

Shaking, Sandalphon tried to push the other away, expecting his hands to pass through he was shocked when he encountered the solid form of a physical being. Falling to the ground as his knees gave out, he backed himself under the table he had just a short while ago been sitting at and watching Djeeta sleep. 

“All in all, the current you is a disappointment Sandalphon. The Supreme Primarch is scared of me huh? Imagine if I was Lucifer, would you get on your knees and praise me like a god? Or would you cower as a dog like you are now?” As the intruder spoke he brought his leg back, swinging forward to land a hard kick against the curled up Sandalphon under the table. 

Using his boot to tilt Sandalphon’s face towards him, the figure smiled at his prey. “Tell me, who am I? I might not have as many wings but surely you can answer.”

Making eye contact, Sandalphon bit his lip to steady himself before answering. 

“You’re me.”

The other Sandalphon smiled coldly. "Good boy, I knew you could answer."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been through my own hell so I made this chapter all about upsetting my favorite angel.  
oh also twitter handle is now @aimlessdoll  
the old one is now my priv twitter but it links to my public one as well.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Djeeta slumbers while Belial and Lucilius have a very adult conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well. I'm sorry that this took so long. I wrote this in math class with no editing.

Sleeping on deck, Djeeta looked as peaceful as could be. No one on night patrol had the courage to try to wake her, but if one of them had taken the time to look closer they might have changed their mind. Eyes under their lids flicked rapidly back and forth, sweat slowly building and her once slow breaths speeding up, in a short time Djeeta went from calm to panicked. 

Standing within a barren forest, Djeeta looked around for any signs of life. This place felt familiar, yet it wasn’t as it should be. Slowly advancing through the lifeless trees she spotted a clearing, and within this clearing lay a bed of feathers the same colour as her own. Approaching the pile cautiously Djeeta could not find any signs of use or disturbance around it, other than her footsteps now stamping the dirt. 

Having no other leads to go off, Djeeta lowered herself into the feathers and found herself relaxing, the husks of the trees and the dried up river nearby did not bother her. How odd it was that the approaching darkness did not raise any concern. 

As the unnatural darkness overtook her form, Djeeta slumbered. 

* * *

  
  


“Now. Tell me what happened to leave you in this state?” Lucilius was having none of Belial's excuses, his foot pressed firmly against the middle of the others spine.

“Well Cilius my dear, if you could just let me up I would be happy to tell you.” Half strangled bartering was all Belial could muster. 

Pressing harder on his subject Lucilius let out a small growl, leaning over Belial he whispered, “You are not in the state to be making requests, answer me before I take your core out for my next experiment.” 

Sighing with his face pressed against the floor, Belial gave up and with a half-hearted shrug explained the situation and his actions.

Silence.

Without warning Belial yelped as he was skewered by Renunciation piercing his chest, pinning him to the floor. Lucilius said nothing as he summoned Repudiation and swiftly planted it in the ground by the cowering Primals head.

“Do you think this is a game Belial?” An overly calm voice barely hid the fury beneath, Belial was glad he could not see his creators face. 

“In a way, yes. I just brought the Singularity here and took her back, I had no part in your play.” Belial forced the words out. Being a Primal Beast had its upsides but in situations like this, he cursed his pain tolerance. 

“Your part, as you put it was to follow my lead and be a good pet. Why would you infuse Dark Matter into the Subject?! Trusting you is a futile effort, even if you say you follow me every single action you take undermines my work!” Putting his weight on Renunciation as he spoke, Lucilius continued to raise his voice. 

Grimacing as he felt the sword slide further in, Belial once again tried to plead his case. “It was the only way I could escape, and whatever the Speaker did when he opened the rift has made it near impossible for you to escape! If I was unable to return you would have no way of procuring outside materials.” Wincing loudly he continued, “Lucilius, you know Sandy wont let any harm come to her, even if she has changed.” 

At the mention of the spare Primarchs name Cilius ceased pushing his weight onto the sword. “Sandalphon. The spare Lucifer unfortunately spawned.” 

“Yes, surely you haven’t forgotten Lucifer’s beloved Sandy.” The hint of sarcasm leaking into his tone earned a swift kick to his ribs. 

“Shut up you beast. That mass of spare unwanted parts will not let the Singularity come to harm. This might work in my favour.” Contemplating the situation, Lucilius ignored the writhing Belial. 

Leaving the panting Belial pinned to the floor, Lucilius left the room with only the sound of his muttering and the click of his heels accompanying him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> being in my midtwenties and back in school is one hell of an experience.  
@eruneears on twitter.


End file.
